They Live Adblocker: uBlock Origin Lite Fork Replaces Ads with Slogans
Install the extension by loading the unpacked folder and set filtering mode to Optimal or Complete to see OBEY tiles.
Install the extension and test on sites with cosmetic filtering enabled.
Summary
They Live Adblocker is a fork of uBlock Origin Lite that replaces blocked ads with white tiles displaying random slogans from John Carpenter's 1988 film They Live. The extension injects a ::after overlay with content read from a data-ubol-they-live attribute, turning cosmetic‑filtered ad elements into OBEY tiles.
Installation requires downloading the zip from the Releases page, loading it as an unpacked extension in Chromium‑based browsers, and switching the filtering mode to Optimal or Complete in the uBO Lite dashboard. The fork adds a MutationObserver to tag late‑loaded ads and patches the cosmetic‑filtering CSS to apply the white‑box mask instead of display:none. Building from source uses Node 22, a git clone of the repository, and a make‑mv3.sh script for Chromium, Firefox, Edge, or Safari. The extension is GPL‑3.0 licensed and is a personal hobby fork, not an official uBlock product. Users should be aware that network‑blocked ads remain hidden and only cosmetic‑filtered ads are replaced. The extension can shift page layout if the site assumes the ad slot collapses.
Key changes
- Adds white‑box overlay with random They Live slogan to cosmetic‑filtered ad elements
- Replaces uBO Lite’s display:none CSS with a ::after overlay that reads content from data‑ubol‑they‑live attribute
- Uses a MutationObserver to tag late‑loaded ads with a random phrase
- Requires setting uBO Lite filtering mode to Optimal or Complete to activate the OBEY tiles
- Builds with Node 22 and a make‑mv3.sh script for Chromium, Firefox, Edge, or Safari
- Loads the extension as an unpacked folder via chrome://extensions
- Is a personal hobby fork licensed GPL‑3.0, not an official uBlock product